Human Skeletal Remains Associated with the Deconsecrated Church of San Lorenzo, Cremona (Lombardy), Italy. International Journal of Anthropology 31(1-2): 1-50.

2015

Flotation and Analysis of Organic Materials Recovered from Excavations at the Montgomery Site (36CH60), Chester County, Pennsylvania. Bulletin of the Society for Pennsylvania Archaeology, Inc. 85(2): 18-24.

Lenape ("Delaware") Mail Carriers and the Origins of the US Postal Service. American Indian Culture and Research Journal 39(3): 99-121.

In May, he participated in a WCU delegation to Turkey that included 10 faculty members from across campus (see photos below). Coordinated by the Office of International Programs in conjunction with the Philadelphia-based Peace Islands Institute, the WCU-Turkey initiative aimed to explore and deepen international partnerships and student opportunities for study, exchange, and enrollment with a number of diverse universities across Turkey, many of which are newly founded institutions. The itinerary was packed with five university visits in Istanbul, Kayseri, Izimir and Ankara, as well as visits to an array of cultural and historical sites such as Istanbul's Hagia Sophia, Ephesus, and the early Christian cave-churches of Cappadocia. Along with Associate Dean Hyoejin Yoon and Assistant Professor Elizabeth Urban (history), Dr. Di Giovine will present future plans for fostering student and faculty exchange to the College of Arts and Sciences community in September. The team welcomes suggestions for engagement from students and faculty.

LEFT: The group sits at the Early Christian cave settlements of Cappadocia. CENTER: The group stands in front of Istanbul University with Vice Dean of Education Dr. Lütfü Ilgar, who previously was a visiting scholar at WCU. RIGHT: The group stands in front of the library at Ephesus.

Dr. Di Giovine was inducted as an Expert Member of the International Cultural Tourism Committee within ICOMOS, the International Council of Monuments and Sites. ICOMOS is the historic preservation advisory body to UNESCO.

He was appointed a regional representative within the tourism section of IUAES, the International Union of Anthropological and Ethnological Scientists.

He was awarded a WCU College of Arts and Sciences Student Engagement Grant to develop an ethnographic field school in Perguia, Italy, next summer through the Umbra Institute. He is looking forward to taking WCU students to central Italy to research culinary heritage in this gastronomic mecca. Check back: More information will be announced.

He published chapters in four books, including his first publication in Italian:

When Popular Religion becomes Elite Heritage: Tensions and Transformations at the Shrine of St. Padre Pio of Pietrelcina. In Helaine Silverman and Mike Robinson (eds.), Encounters with Popular Pasts: Cultural Heritage and Popular Culture. NY: Springer Publications, pp. 31-47.

"Reasons and the Acceptance of the Authoritative Speech: An Empirically-Grounded Synthesis of Habermas and Bourdieu." Sociological Theory 31(3): 267-289.

Dr. Aliza Richman

She presented a poster titled "Chronic Inflammation at the Intersection of Race, Gender, and Socioeconomic Status: The Mediating Effects of Composite Health Lifestyles" at the 2015 Population Association of American conference in San Diego, CA (May)

She also won a College of Arts and Sciences Student Engagement Grant to explore study abroad opportunities for WCU students in Ghana. In July, she traveled to Accra to collaborate with colleagues at the University of Ghana, and she reports that the meetings were productive. Any students interested in a faculty-led, summer study abroad trip should contact Dr. Richman.

Dr. Paul Stoller

He delivered the keynote address, "Science, Imagination and the Spaces Between Things," at the WCU Sigma XI inauguration on April 12.

He was elected Hallsworth Visiting Professor at the Faculty of the Humanities/University of Manchester. On April 19, he delivered a public lecture titled "The Burden of Writing the Sorcerer's Burden: Ethnography Fiction and Future of Anthropological Expression" amd will run workshops on blogging and ethnographic writing. He also will present a public lecture at Aarhus University (Denmark) on "Blogging Bliss: Communicating Culture in the 21st Century."

She published a book chapter: "Transitional Archaic Settlement Density in Eastern Pennsylvania." In The Nature and Pace of Change in American Indian Cultures: Pennsylvania 4,000-3,000 BP. Pennsylvania State University Press.

She was appointed to the Society for American Archaeology Committee on Climate Change Strategies and Archaeological Resources.

Dr. Julie B. Wiest

She published a book chapter: “The Role of Mass Media in the Transmission of Culture.” Pp. 203-219 in Communication and Information Technologies Annual (Studies in Media and Communications, Volume 11), edited by L. Robinson, J. Schulz, S. Cotten, T.M. Hale, A.A. Williams, and J.L. Hightower. Bingley, Bradford, UK: Emerald Group Publishing.

She received WCU University Research Funding Award in Spring 2016 for her project “New Media Technologies as Resources for Social Change.”

She participated in the 2016 Digital Methods Summer School, hosted by the Queensland University of Technology’s Digital Methods Research Centre in Brisbane, Australia.

She presented the following papers at national sociology conferences:

“Fear and False Impressions: Public Perceptions of Serial Murder.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, Atlanta (April 2016).

“New Media Mobilization: Theorizing Social Change in a Digital Age.” Presented as part of the Social and Political Change through Social Media mini-conference at the annual meeting of the Eastern Sociological Society, Boston (March 2016).

“New Media Technologies as Resources for Social Change.” Presented as part of the Media Sociology Preconference at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association, Chicago (August 2015).

“Violations Via Vague-ing: Interaction Norms on Social Media.” Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Chicago. (August 2015).

She organized the following conference sessions:

“Social Construction of Experience.” Paper session at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Seattle. (August 2016).

“Mass Mediated Meaning.” Paper session at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Seattle. (August 2016).

“The Self in a Digital Age.” Paper session at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Seattle. (August 2016).

“Reflections in the Double Mirror: The Relationship between Media and Culture.” Invited panel session at the annual meeting of the Southern Sociological Society, Atlanta. (April 2016).

“Technologically Mediated Interaction.” Paper session at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction, Chicago. (August 2015).

“21st Century Community-Based Social Justice Activism.” Paper session at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, Chicago. (August 2015).

She co-facilitated two faculty seminars sponsored by the Office of Distance Education: “Engaging Online Students” (March 2016) and “Planning and Preparing for a New Online Course: Tips & Strategies from Seasoned Online Faculty” (February 2016).

Dr. Jacqueline Zalewski

She presented a poster titled
"'Chewed up': Adversarial workplace interactions resulting from in-house outsourcing" at the annual meeting of the Labor and Employment Relations Association in Minneapolis (May 2016).

She presented two papers at national sociology conferences recently:

"'Chewed up': Adversarial workplace interactions that result from in-house outsourcing" at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Symbolic Interaction in Chicago (August 2015)

"Work, the job, and professional careers with outsourcing companies: Theorizing about job quality and loss" at the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Chicago (August 2015)

She received a second College of Arts and Sciences Student Engagement Grant to continue her research project entitled "Increasing student engagement with sociology and sociological research." As part of the project, students enrolled in SOC 343: Sociology of Organizations are conducting guided survey research on the jobs, professional careers, and ongoing education of WCU sociology alumni.